An astronaut. A fireman. The president. Years ago, these are (probably) the answers kids gave when poised with the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” But 2022 is a different world, and according to a recent study, 54% of Gen Z teens dream about becoming influencers. With TikTok, that dream has never been more of a reality. But is fame really at our fingertips, or does going viral take a lot more work than we think?

VICE’s Zach Shucklin put that question to the test, throwing himself into a world of social media managers, disgusting challenges, and hype houses to see if blowing up on the app was truly as easy as it looks. Spoiler alert—it takes a lot more than hashtags to get to the top. Follow his sad journey to find out!

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